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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University baseball team received a sterling pitching performance from sophomore Stephen Jones and clutch hitting from a trio of talented true freshmen as the Bulldogs earned a series-clinching 7-0 victory in a rain-shortened Southern Conference showdown against the Western Carolina Catamounts on Sunday at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
The teams nearly played eight full innings in the contest, and Samford (26-18, 7-8 SoCon) was leading, 7-1, over Western Carolina (22-21, 11-7 SoCon) in the bottom of the frame, when the game was called due to incessant rain.
 
According to conference rules, the final score of all called games must revert back to the final completed inning, therefore the Bulldogs won by a count of 7-0, because that was the score at the end of the seventh inning.
 
Sunday's triumph proved to be Samford's second shutout victory of the season. On April 13, the Bulldogs earned a 1-0 win over The Citadel here at "The Griff".

Also with the victory, Samford head coach Casey Dunn reached the 400-win plateau in his career. He currently owns an impressive 400-342 all-time record with the Bulldogs.
 
Jones (3-3), Samford's talented right-hander from Tallahassee, Florida, only allowed one hit in the win. He also struck out two Catamounts in arguably his strongest outing of the season. As a team, the Bulldogs limited Western Carolina to one official hit in the game.
 
Junior reliever Josh Rich came on in the top of the sixth inning with Samford leading 3-0 at the time. He earned a trio of strikeouts in just two full frames of no-hit ball and registered his first save of the season.
 
The Catamounts only struck out five times as an offense Sunday, but the Bulldogs' defense made plenty of tremendous plays in the field, including a critical rally-stopping double-play in the fifth inning.
 
Western Carolina's starting pitcher Brendan Nail (4-7) kept Samford scoreless until the fifth frame when the Bulldogs rallied for three runs on two hits. Freshman third baseman Taylor Garris led off the inning with a single through the right side and then he was moved over to third on a fielding error by Nail.
 
Garris then scored on a sacrifice fly before Troy Dixon singled home Kevin Williams, Jr., with a single to right field. Samford's final run of the inning was tallied as T.J. Dixon sacrificed Ayrton Schafer home from third base on a sacrifice bunt.
 
The Bulldogs' bats remained hot in the sixth inning as well as they rallied for four more runs on four hits. Schafer provided the big blow of the frame with a triple off the wall in right-center field. He tallied two RBI on the play as both Austin Edens and Garris scored.
 
Garris and Troy Dixon led the way for Samford's offense with two hits apiece, while Schafer and Anthony Mulrine both drove in a pair of runs. Garris, Schafer and Mulrine are all true freshmen for this Bulldog squad, while Dixon is only a sophomore.
 
Branden Fryman, also a true freshman, and Edens both posted key hits as well for Samford in Sunday's series-clinching win.
 
Matt Smith posted Western Carolina's lone hit of the game in the second inning.
 
The Samford University baseball team will next be in action Tuesday at 6 p.m. (CT) as the Bulldogs remain at home for a huge crosstown rivalry game against the UAB Blazers to be held at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
 
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